Gogo increases antenna power
May 24, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Gogo Business Aviation has launched its Gogo Galileo product line with the unveiling of a second electronically steered antenna (ESA) form factor for use on its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband solution. Gogo serves the business aviation market with its In-Flight Communications service. The new equipment has already caught the eye of OneWeb.
Gogo says the Galileo antenna now offers two fuselage-mount antennas – the previously announced HDX antenna, designed with a small form factor to fit on any size business aircraft, and today’s announcement of the FDX antenna which is designed to fit on larger aircraft and will deliver best-in-class performance.
“With the introduction of the FDX antenna, our AVANCE platform now offers a complete portfolio of North American air-to-ground (ATG) and global LEO products to meet the unique needs of each segment of the business aviation market,” said Sergio Aguirre, Gogo’s president/COO. “We have solutions to fit any aircraft size, flying any mission, whether the owner is focused on value, high performance, or redundancy, all coupled with our award-winning customer support.”
Gogo says the Galileo device was designed and engineered in close collaboration with Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar company, and Hughes will be the manufacturer.
“Leveraging the research and development investment of the HDX antenna, we have successfully accelerated our roadmap of bringing a second, best-in-class antenna to the market,” said Aguirre. “FDX will maximize the capacity and performance of the OneWeb network for nearly 8,000 global heavy jet operators.”
The FDX antenna, says Gogo, is a solution offering all the benefits of the more compact HDX antenna, while offering faster data speeds, higher throughput, and lower latency than current geosynchronous (GEO) satellite systems can deliver, supporting multiple unique VPN, interactive video, and gaming sessions simultaneously.
“We’re proud to support Gogo as they continue to enhance their world-class inflight broadband system for business aviation,” said Reza Rasoulian, VP/Hughes. “Thanks to the dynamic partnership between Gogo and Hughes, combined with our engineering expertise and close collaboration with OneWeb, Gogo Business Aviation customers will soon realise an unmatched LEO connectivity experience worldwide.”
When Gogo Galileo launches, Gogo will be able to offer the fastest and highest capacity inflight connectivity products in North America through a combined LEO and 5G superior solution enabled by the AVANCE platform’s unique multi-bearer capability.
“We’re excited to see Gogo’s continued progress alongside the very tangible progress OneWeb has made in recent weeks with the completion of our LEO constellation, and the continued roll out of our ground infrastructure,” said Jason Sperry, head of business aviation for OneWeb. “It’s clear that together we mean business.”
The AVANCE platform has been intentionally designed to provide easy upgrade paths to new technologies and networks. In the case of Gogo Galileo, any aircraft with an AVANCE product installed will only need to add the FDX or HDX antenna to the fuselage to access the benefits of LEO network technology.
As of March 31st, Gogo said it had 3,447 business aircraft flying with Gogo’s AVANCE L5 or L3 system installed, 7,046 aircraft flying with its ATG systems onboard, and 4,485 aircraft with narrowband satellite connectivity installed